In December as I was walking through Anthropologie, I stumbled upon the book, 52 Lists for Happiness. I flipped through it a few times in the store and fell in love with the book. I didn’t buy it at the time but ended up ordering it a few months later from Target for less than $12. If the floral cover and rose gold typography doesn’t catch your eye, the beautiful photography inside will.
The book is basically a fancy way to record the things that bring you happiness. It’s structured as a journal with 52 different lists for each week of the year. The items you record on the lists fall under 4 categories: reflect, acknowledge, invest and transform. I wanted to share some of the items on my lists as I go about filling out the journal during the year. The first list asks me to write down everything that currently makes me happy.
Here are some of the things that currently make me happy:
- Walks on the beach
- Swimming in the ocean
- Paddleboarding!
- Baking desserts
- Hanging with my BFF Alyssa
- Adventures with my boyfriend, Josh
- Cuddling and kissing Josh
- Being extra silly with Josh (lol, I guess I really love Josh)
- Trinity Fitness friends! (the gym I work out at)
- Lifestyle Photography
- Eating with my parents (lol, I must have been thinking of dinner during the weeknights?!)
- Shopping (haha always)
- GoPro Photos
- Swimsuits
- Enoing “Hammocking” in my Eno
- Being creative
- Blogging/Writing/Story telling
- Being outside
- SLEEPING! (I wrote this in caps because it’s not been super consistent the past few months)
- Cooking healthy dinners
- Bike rides
- Longboarding
- Taking classes/learning
- Photoshop/Illustrator
- The idea and dream of owning my own business one day
- Spontaneous Saturdays (I specifically wrote “Visiting Visiting Sugar Shack Donuts” lololol)
I think it’s safe to conclude that I love the beach, food, being outside and my friends, family and boyfriend! I have really enjoyed filling out this book and being reminded of all the things that truly bring me happiness. Some of the other lists I can’t wait to fill out over the next few weeks ask things such as, “list every color you can think of and what mood you associate each color with”, “list the scents, spaces, textures, and sounds that bring you joy, “list everything you feel passionate about”, and the lists go on. They really get your mind thinking and push you to dig deep.
Out of everything I have written, I realized I never once wrote, “spending time on Facebook or Instagram watching other people live their lives”. It definitely makes me take a step back and think about my time spent on Social Media. How many times have I sat in a room full of people and mindlessly scrolled through Facebook or Instagram? While I do love promoting my blog and seeing new products pop up in my social media outlets, it’s so much more important for me to spend time interacting with people. I don’t want to look back in 5, 10 or 15 years and regret those moments I spent on my phone instead of connecting with those around me.
The 52 Lists of Happiness book can be purchased here. If your interested in a similar book, be sure to check out, The 52 Lists Project by Moorea Seal.
2 Comments
Kim
February 8, 2017 at 3:49 pmLove this post! I love that book too. It is crazy how we spend so much time on our phones, especially as bloggers. Carving out the time for what matters most to us is way more important. 🙂
katieskronicles
February 8, 2017 at 7:01 pmthanks! I can’t stop flipping through the book. The fun thing about the book is that I can ask others what they would put on the list for me, or what they would put on the list for themselves. It’s a fun way to start conversation and dig deep into places I might otherwide push aside, especially with friends I am just getting to know. I agree with the time, especially since I work a different job during the day and blog on the side.